Privatization and Democracy in Argentina An Analysis of President-Congress Relations

by Llanos, Mariana

• ISBN13: 9780333920527
• ISBN10: 033392052X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-08-03
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

A new appraisal of the relationship between the Presidency and Congress in Argentina over the first two decades of its democratic regime. Mariana Llanos uses the processes of privatization and state reform in Argentina to reassess the performance, functions, and stature of these institutions as the country embarked on a program of change. This is a valuable contribution to the debate on the development of political institutions in Latin America.

Author Biography

Mariana Llanos is Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of Augsburg, Germany.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	x
List of Graphs	xi
List of Abbreviations	xii
Acknowledgements	xiii
Introduction	1	(15)
Evaluating the functioning of new democracies	3	(5)
The book	8	(8)
A working definition of privatization	10	(1)
Analytical concerns	11	(4)
The organization of the book	15	(1)
The Argentine Presidential System	16	(27)
Introduction	16	(1)
The presidential features of the regime	16	(12)
On presidential powers	17	(4)
Historical developments	21	(3)
Parties and groups	24	(2)
The state	26	(2)
The 1983 democratic political regime	28	(15)
Parties and party system	30	(4)
Parties and Congress	34	(3)
1994 constitutional reform	37	(2)
Conclusion	39	(2)
Appendix: the legislative process	41	(2)
Privatizations in Alfonsin's Agenda	43	(27)
Introduction	43	(1)
The Argentine state in the 1980s	44	(3)
Privatization in the president's agenda	47	(9)
The beginning of democracy	48	(3)
The Austral Plan	51	(3)
Attempting structural reforms	54	(2)
The privatization bills in Congress	56	(6)
The Radical Party	57	(3)
The Peronist Party	60	(2)
Other opposition forces	62	(8)
Conclusion	66	(4)
Privatizations in Menem's Agenda	70	(25)
Introduction	70	(1)
The hyperinflation context of 1989	71	(6)
The outbreak of the crisis	72	(1)
The Peronist presidential candidate	73	(3)
The presidential transition	76	(1)
Building presidential power	77	(9)
The great turnaround	77	(2)
The social supports	79	(3)
The institutional resources	82	(1)
The delegation of power	82	(3)
The delegative laws in Congress	85	(1)
Furthering presidential resources	86	(9)
Necessity and urgency decrees	86	(1)
The Supreme Court	87	(2)
Inside the presidential branch	89	(2)
Conclusion	91	(2)
Appendix: Public enterprises included in the State Reform Bill Appendix	93	(2)
Privatization and Political Parties	95	(29)
Introduction	95	(2)
The privatization programme	97	(6)
The privatization bills	99	(4)
Political parties and privatization bills	103	(21)
The Peronist Party	105	(7)
The Radical Party	112	(5)
The third parties	117	(4)
Conclusion	121	(1)
Appendix 1: Graph 5.1 and Graph 5.2	122	(1)
Appendix 2: Enterprises included in the bill for the privatization of the assets of the defence establishment	123	(1)
The Institutional Dynamics of Privatization	124	(31)
Introduction	124	(1)
Congress and the privatization bills	125	(3)
The cooperative phase	128	(5)
Presidential weapons	128	(4)
The congressional amendments	132	(1)
Electricity and gas	133	(4)
Privatizing the oil company	137	(4)
Privatizing military assets	141	(2)
Transforming pensions	143	(6)
The president's response	149	(6)
Conclusion	153	(2)
President, Congress, and Privatizations after Re-election	155	(24)
Introduction	155	(2)
The contextual conditions for privatization	157	(3)
Privatization bills after re-election	160	(13)
The cases of cooperation	163	(2)
The cases of conflict	165	(1)
The post-office privatization	165	(6)
The airports privatization	171	(2)
The Executive's response	173	(6)
Conclusion	177	(2)
Conclusion	179	(15)
President, Congress, and the policy of privatization	180	(7)
A role for Congress?	187	(7)
Notes	194	(26)
Bibliography	220	(9)
Index	229